Social Cognition September 16th, 2009 : Lecture 2

Social Cognition : Overview (Social) Cognition Basics Lecture 2

Social Cognition : Overview (Social) Cognition Basics Lecture 2

Social Cognition ➡ Thinking about social objects

Social Cognition ➡ Thinking about social objects

Social Object ➡ A physical object that has the ability to engage in social cognition

Social Object ➡ A physical object that has the ability to engage in social cognition

Social Cognition ➡ Thinking about social objects

Social Cognition : Overview (Social) Cognition Basics Lecture 2

(Social) Cognition Basics Thinking Automatic cognition Controlled cognition

(Social) Cognition Basics Cognition:Perception Processing / Encoding Storage / Knowledge Representation Retrieval / Application

(Social) Cognition Basics Cognition:Perception Processing / Encoding Storage / Knowledge Representation Retrieval / Application

PerceptionPerception ➡ Becoming aware of something through the senses

Pre-attentive Processes ➡ Rapid processing of complex scene Rapid = less than 250 ms Complex = large, multi-element display of information

Gaze Detection Doi & Ueda (2007); von Grünau & Anston (1995)

(Social) Cognition Basics Cognition:Perception Processing / Encoding Storage / Knowledge Representation Retrieval / Application

Processing Information Encoding ➡ Selecting information from the environment and storing it in memory

AttentionAttention ➡ Selective perception

Simons & Chabris (1999)

SchemasSchemas Mental structures used to organize knowledge about the social world around themes or subjects Efficient processing Guide attention and memory Bias against schema incongruent information

Self-fulfilling Prophecy How does attractiveness shape our interactions? Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid (1977)

Self-fulfilling Prophecy Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid (1977) Method: 1. Develop Stimuli: females pose for pictures males rate pictures on attractiveness 3. 4 attractive & 4 unattractive pictures kept

Self-fulfilling Prophecy Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid (1977) Method: 2. Schedule male and female participants in pairs 2. Schedule male and female participants in pairs 1. Males given either attractive picture or unattractive picture 2. They talk for 10 minutes over the phone 3. Conversations are recorded

Self-fulfilling Prophecy Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid (1977) Method: 3. Participants rate each other and the conversation 3. Participants rate each other and the conversation 4. Female judges later listened to the conversations and rated the women 4. Female judges later listened to the conversations and rated the women 1. Judges never met or saw the women 1. Judges never met or saw the women 2. Judges were unaware of picture exchange 2. Judges were unaware of picture exchange

Self-fulfilling Prophecy Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid (1977) Results: Both men and female judges thought: Unsociable, awkward, Sociable, Poised, Unsociable, awkward, Sociable, Poised, Serious Humorous Serious Humorous

(Social) Cognition Basics Cognition:Perception Processing / Encoding Storage / Knowledge Representation Retrieval / Application

Semantic Network Prototype Theory of Categorization Objects are classified based on similarity to a prototype Rosch (1973)

Semantic Network ➡ Related concepts are stored closely together in memory Bird Canary Robin Ostrich Feathers Flying Wings Animals Dog Horse Furry Cute

Semantic Network Bird Canary Robin Ostrich Feathers Flying Wings Animals Dog Horse Furry Cute Spreading Activation Thinking about one concept will “activate,” “prime,” or make “accessible” a related concept ➡ Related concepts are stored closely together in memory

(Social) Cognition Basics Cognition:Perception Processing / Encoding Storage / Knowledge Representation Retrieval / Application

RetrievalRetrieval Accessibility and Priming Judgemental Heuristics

AccessibilityAccessibility The extent to which concepts are at the forefront of your mind Accessible concepts shape social cognition

Ironic Effects of Thought Suppression Wegner, Schneider, Carter III, & White (1987) Wegner, Schneider, Carter III, & White (1987)

Ironic Effects of Thought Suppression Wegner, Schneider, Carter III, & White (1987) Wegner, Schneider, Carter III, & White (1987)

Ironic Effects of Thought Suppression Wegner, Schneider, Carter III, & White (1987) Wegner, Schneider, Carter III, & White (1987) Suppressed thought becomes hyperaccessible

PrimingPriming The process by which recent experiences increase the accessibility of another concept

HeuristicsHeuristics Mental shortcuts Fast and efficient Parallel processing Error prone Kahneman & Tversky (1979)

AlgorithmsAlgorithms Mechanical, step-by-step process for arriving at an answer Slow and deliberate Serial processing Effortful Highly successful

Key Heuristics Availability Heuristic Representativeness Heuristic Anchoring & Adjustment Heuristic Simulation Heuristic Kahneman & Tversky (1979)

Availability Heuristic A mental shortcut whereby people base a judgement on the ease with which they can bring something to mind Kahneman & Tversky (1979)

Representativeness Heuristic A mental shortcut whereby people classify something according to how similar it is to a typical case Base rate bias: The tendency to underestimate the impact of base rates on accurate prediction Kahneman & Tversky (1979)

Anchoring & Adjustment Heuristic Anchoring: The mental shortcut whereby people make judgements using the first answer that came to them as an “anchor” Adjustment: The bias whereby even when people learn their anchor is untrustworthy, they do not adjust sufficiently away from it

Simulation Heuristic A mental shortcut whereby people substitute “normal” outcomes for “exceptional” ones in undoing a situation Special case of Availability Heuristic AKA “Counterfactual Thinking” Kahneman & Tversky (1979)

Social Cognition : Overview (Social) Cognition Basics Lecture 2

“I remember things the way they should have been.” - Truman Capote Next lecture (9/18): The Self Relevant Websites: p p